Coast Guard sends rescue boat out to get ship out of fog

Courtesy of Cynthia Oldham

Courtesy of Cynthia Oldham

A 47-foot Motor Life Boat crew from Coast Guard Station Rockland, Maine, responds to the sailboat, Ingomar, taking on water in West Penobscot Bay, Maine on July 5, 2016. A similar MLB crew and a small-boat response crew towed the pleasure craft Indiana Jones out of a fog bank in a southern part of the bay on Monday.

Indiana Jones knew his way out of the Temple of Doom, but a pleasure boat bearing his name wasn’t so sure of itself on Monday.

The Coast Guard dispatched a 47-foot motor lifeboat to the Jones after its captain radioed that he was disoriented in heavy fog at the south end of Penobscot Bay near Two Bush Island, Coast Guard spokesman Chris Berry said.

The call came in at about 2:55 p.m. The lifeboat was assigned to bring the 29-foot Jones, which was having navigation system trouble, out of the fog, Berry said.

A Coast Guard dispatcher reported the issue resolved about three hours later. No injuries were reported.

Skies were sunny and clear over the Coast Guard station in Rockland but heavy fog, likely caused by warm air passing over colder seas, had reduced visibility to a few feet in parts of the bay, Berry said.

The National Weather Service issued an advisory last weekend warning beachgoers and boaters to beware of the significant difference between warm air and cold water temperatures, saying that it could lead to hypothermia for those in the water.

Maine had about 109,774 registered boats in 2017, according to the state.